Effects of Co:Sb Molar Ratio on Synthesis and Properties of Undoped CoSb3 Prepared via a Polyol Method

Abstract

Nanostructured CoSb 3 was prepared via a polyol method using different Co:Sb molar ratios in the reactant precursors. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and fieldemission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) were used to characterize the prepared products. Thermoelectric properties of the samples were measured from room temperature to around 500°C. The electrical resistivity and Seebeck coefficient were found to increase with increasing Sb content in the reactant precursors. The sample with a reactant precursor Co:Sb molar ratio of 1:4.75 exhibited the lowest total and lattice thermal conductivity, and the highest ZT value of 0.16 was obtained for this sample at about 450°C.

Thermoelectric Performance of Tetrahedrite Synthesized by a Modified Polyol Process

“…The process here is modified by the addition of another reducing agent, such as NaBH 4 , and this synthetic method has been shown to synthesize thermoelectric materials with particles on the nanoscale. Previously, versions of the polyol method have been utilized to produce other thermoelectric materials, such as Bi 2 Te 3 , PbTe, Bi 1.5 Sb 0.5 Te 3 , and CoSb 3 . − …”

Multiphase thermoelectrics : effect of second phase in ex-SITU Cu7Te4-Bi0.4Sb1.6Te3 and in-SITU SnTe-SnSe nanocomposites

“…Comparing these values to the mass fractions of the second phase in the samples, it confirmed that with larger mass fraction of second phase, there was increased scattering of phonons. It was noted that these lattice thermal conductivity values made up about 50% of the total thermal conductivity, which was close to the values reported by other authors [70,163,164]. However, as the total thermal conductivity was on the high side, it seems like the absolute value of lattice thermal conductivity was quite high.…”